It probably cannot all be put down to Australian referee Paul Marks’s inept handling of the Super 14 match between the Hurricanes and the Sharks in Wellington on Saturday, but there are now thoughts of the International Rugby Board (IRB) appointing Super 14 referees rather than the three Sanzar unions.
And in a further unprecedented move, the appointment of referees has only been released to the end of this week’s Super 14 rounds — and in referees’ circles the delay of appointments for rounds 10 to 12 has been put down to Marks’s general performance.
This culminated in his refusal to refer the final act of the day to the TMO, which may have resulted in a try or a penalty try for the Hurricanes in a match they drew 13-all with the Sharks.
According to the website Super14.com, leading referees will later this month discuss whether the world’s top referees should be officiating in the Super 14 series instead of only referees from the participating nations.
IRB referees’ boss Paddy O’Brien admits the idea has been around for some time, according to the website. It says a strategic meeting will be held in Dublin later this month that will include the referee bosses from Sanzar and the Six Nations, as well as from Japan, Canada, United States and Argentina, along with South Africa’s World Cup-winning coach Jake White and Wales’s Warren Gatland.
”It’s a strategic meeting that will look at where refereeing is heading for the next four years,” O’Brien said.
”We’ll discuss things like whether we need specialised touch judges and TMOs. And we’ll discuss whether the IRB should take over the full-time employment of the referees, and that they then control games in the northern- and southern-hemisphere competitions.
”It’s easy to say that, but it’s a lot harder logistically,” O’Brien said, according to the website. — Sapa